Hiyaaa Roll!

These days, food seems to taste better if it is served from the inner throes of a mobile truck. So the other day, I headed over to TruckStop, a gathering of food trucks in an alley off of Mission Street between Fremont and 1st, for lunch. The private alley, owned by the owner of the adjacent 450 Fremont building, houses three trucks on a rotating basis: two main course trucks and one dessert truck. The schedule can be viewed on their website through their online calendar.

Aside from it being a tight squeeze in the alleyway, the location is great - it's close to where I work and right next to the 50 Fremont outdoor courtyard that has plenty of seats. The selection of trucks is handpicked and includes CurryUpNow, KungFu Tacos, Chairman Bao, The Rib Whip and Kara's Cupcakes.

I chose to go to Hiyaaa Roll, a truck serving Vietnamese-style "Banh Mi" sandwiches. For $7, you get a sandwich with your choice of meat (bulgogi, pork, lemongrass or curry chicken, tofu) and fresh veggies on a toasted roll and for $2 more, you can have your sandwich "stuffed" with double the meat. I ordered the spicy pork sandwich: while it's hard to justify spending so much on Vietnamese food when cheaper and tastier food exists in Little Saigon, it was definitely one of the better SF Vietnamese sandwiches I've had, minus the 'loin crowd.

It also beat out Spice Kit, the Vietnamese version of Chipotle down the street, in taste, in price, in the fact that it came from a truck, and pretty much everything else. The bread was crunchy, the pork was well-spiced with "secret sauce" and the veggies were plentiful and fresh. I overheard another patron in line highly recommending the "stuffed" version so I may try that next time.

Restaurant:	Hiyaaa Roll
Location:	Varies; Truckstop, on Mission Street between 1st Street & Fremont Street
Items ordered:	Spicy Pork Roll
Pricing:	under $10
Grades:	Taste: A; Cleanliness: A-; Service: B